whats a good mother board

[medic13]

Ok for all I have a pent 4 3.2 478 processor.

Its currently on a MSI PT 880 MB / its an ok mother board but to be honest I have had better ones.

I am looking for a replacement motherboard.

I am using ati 9800 Pro 256 MB card AGP

Intel Pro/1000 GT net work card

Sound was built onto motherboard bit not that big deal.

I am using 2 gigs DDR 400 memory (actually main reason for not upgrading sooner, most now have ddr2)

Hard drives 74 gig rapture

I want something that is stable but also can be over clocked,

So give me some ideas to look at, I have had good luck with MSI can you all recommend some others, even other MSI boards. Thanks

 

[NickS]

One of the best, if not the best P4 OC'ing motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127152

ABIT IC-7 Max II

 

[bloodthirst]

i was going to say get a DFI but i havent seen any socket 478 motherboards built by them so yeah go for the ABIT happy overclocking

 

[JN]

Defo the IC7-G or IC7-MAX2

 

[|3ourne]

If its a northwood ( or even a prescott ) an ABIT AI7 is a great board right off the bat.

IC7-MaxII and IC7-MaxIII need volt mods to get them working right . But they are great boards as well.

Asus i875 boards are good too but require a Vdroop mod before any serious overclocking can be done.

 

[JN]

I can certainly vouch for the IC7 board.

Got my 2.8ghz prescott up to 3.6ghz no sweat.

 

[NickS]

Yeah, I vote IC7 also. I have a friend who has a nice IS7, OC's great. His NW 2.4C is on water (danger den block) @ 3.3ghz stable .

 

[Dav0s]

the 478 boards neverr had much cometition, the IS7 gets it every time

 

[JN]

Just remeber..

IS7 = 865PE

IC7 = 875

Not that it matters much, but i never did manage to get PAT (equiv.) enabled on the IS7 when overclocked - it worked fine on the IC7 tho.

 

[NickS]

I read an article on Andantech or some other similar site that said the IS7 was THE BEST performing Intel board available.

see reviews here: http://www2.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=IS7&fMTYPE=Socket%20478&pPRODINFO=Awards&fSEARCHTEXT=IS7

see BEST P4 MOBO award/review here: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1831&p=30

IN THE END

Final Words

After many hours of testing we have decided that the best value Pentium 4 motherboard is ABIT's IS7 based on the 865PE chipset. The IS7's assortment of onboard features such as IEEE 1394 FireWire, Serial ATA RAID, 10/100 LAN, and AC'97 alone make it a great buy at just over $105. However what separates the ABIT IS7 from other motherboard's is its excellent overclocking ability and superb performance that rival the most expensive motherboards on the market, including those based on Intel's 875P chipset.

*down further after conclusion of ASUS board*

In the end however, after countless hours of testing and much debate, we finally decided to give our Editors Choice Gold Award for best overall Pentium 4 motherboard to the ABIT IS7. ABIT has put together a well performing motherboard with a wonderful array of features and overclocking potential at an incredible price point. The ABIT IS7 is living proof of ABIT's commitment to the enthusiast desktop market, and we can only hope they continue to produce more motherboards like the IS7 for years to come.

 

[anonymous_c]

Yes, I'm the friend who has the IS7 and let me tell you... it is one of the best S478 boards you can get. Granted, it's i865PE, but reading all of the reviews, you can see that it beat out other i875P boards! It's a great OCer (the only reason I can't get past 3.3GHz is because of my PSU (generic POS)) and looks beautiful, runs extremely well, is quite fast and has many features. I highly recommend it, and the IC7 MAXII or MAXIII motherboards are also great.

If you would like to see some reviews on the IS7 (though you probably already bought another board):

http://abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030702.php

http://abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030701.php

http://abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030620.php

http://abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030604.php

http://abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030530b.php

http://abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030530a.php

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDgwLDM=

http://techreport.com/reviews/2003q3/abit-is7/index.x?pg=1

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=1831&p=4

http://www.overclockers.com.au/article.php?id=186225&P=2

http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/abit_is7/abit_is7_pg1.html

 

[NickS]

I like teh IS7 cuz it has PAT technology thats "only in teh 875," beats out 875, and is a lot cheaper

 

[anonymous_c]

I like teh IS7 cuz it has PAT technology thats "only in teh 875," beats out 875, and is a lot cheaper

Yes, that's true, ABIT hacked the i865PE BIOS to enable PAT features... so you're basically buying an i875P board but faster and much cheaper.

 

[NickS]

Definentally awesome.

Hey dude get on AIM roflmao

 

[FragTek]

Hmmm, didnt know that, that's pretty sweet *Frag doesnt follow teh Intel stuff very closely*

 

[Bal3Wolf]

I Like my Msi 865pe -P board one of best and stablest boards iv had not to mention im overclocking 700mhz right now on air can do up to 1000mhz overclocked but gota upgrade to water when i do i got a 3.0 pressy running 3.7 right now with no vcore adjustments.

 

[bloodthirst]

I Like my Msi 865pe -P board one of best and stablest boards iv had not to mention im overclocking 700mhz right now on air can do up to 1000mhz overclocked but gota upgrade to water when i do i got a 3.0 pressy running 3.7 right now with no vcore adjustments.

i think PV5150 has a similar motherboard

 

[enVias]

He has the 875 version.

 

[bloodthirst]

oh my bad sorry

 

[hawkinsa21]

Buy DFI Lanparty... they pwn and their Bios's as Kemp has mentioned before are genius!